The Chernarus Incident
by AsTheTidesTurnRed
Summary: It has been one year since the outbreak, and Trey has somehow survived on his own. But what will happen when he meets another survivor? Rated M for violence, language and potential sexual situations later in the story.
1. Papa

_Trey couldn't help but notice the abnormal silence in his village. Yes, it was 10 at night, but usually there were a few farmers stumbling to or from the local bar, or at least a porch light or two on. But Dolina was dark and dead silent, save for the headlights of his truck and the soft rumble of the engine. He'd been gone for a few days on a (failed) hunting trip, and he definitely wasn't looking forward to the reaming he would surely get from his father; the old man got pissed when he only brought back one animal, he shuddered to think at how upset he'd be when he returned with nothing._

_He was able to put himself on autopilot since he'd driven this path so many times before, letting his mind wander off to explain why it was so... empty. 'Maybe there's a power outage' he thought. Yeah, no power and no meat. His old man was going to be a real peach._

_Eventually, Trey pulled into the small house on the outskirts of town and shut his truck off. He stepped out of the car and walked over to the bed, feeling his way around in the dark. He fiddled around a bit until he could find his Winchester rifle, hatchet and a flashlight. Everything else in the back could wait until morning, but he didn't want any of the local kids running through and nicking these things. With a sigh, he walked to the front door and hoped that his father was asleep._

"_Papa," he said, "I'm home" Closing the door behind him, he couldn't help but notice that something... well, something was off. Just like outside, there were no lights and no sound... no sound whatsoever. If his father were awake, he would have greeted his son, and if he were sleeping then Trey should have been able to hear the snoring from outside, and there's nowhere his father could possibly be._

"_Papa?"_

_Something was wrong. Trey wasn't sure what, but he just knew that all was not well. He pulled the hatchet from his belt with his right hand, and flicked on the flashlight with his left, shining the light in front of him. He flashed the light around and saw clear signs of a struggle- Pictures knocked off the walls, the carpet all wrinkled, a chair tipped over... someone had attacked his father. He continued to walk through the house, making his way to the kitchen, and he made a gruesome discovery._

_Trey saw a body on the floor._

_He knelt down and let out a small sigh of relief when he noticed that it was not his father... was that Mr Galkin? It was... why was the man who ran the general store lying dead in his kitchen? More importantly, why does it look like he'd been decomposing for a couple of weeks? Trey had only been gone for a few days, and it was nearly winter so it couldn't have been the heat... his wandering thoughts were quickly silenced when Trey noticed a trail of blood leading to the basement door, and he quickly thought of his father yet again. Perhaps he was down there..._

_He opened the door as slowly and quietly as he could, and she shined a light down, noticing the trail of blood continued down the stairs._

"_Papa, are you down there?" Trey said, a hint of fear in his voice. Sure, he and the old man didn't always get along, but he couldn't imagine a life without his father. He slowly crept down the stairs, hatchet at the ready just in case, and he was almost all the way down when he darted his light to the rest of the basement. The trail of blood led to a man in an ugly yellow button up shirt... his father's favorite, for some reason. Trey initially let out a gasp of relief, but he noticed that something wasn't right. His father looked a mess, which was completely out of character for him._

"_Papa, are you oka..."_

_Trey's father whipped around, and what Trey saw took his breath away. The entire front end of the shirt was tattered and covered in blood, and he looked... dead. Dead, but still moving._

"_Papa..."_

_Trey began to step back slowly, but his father let out a low rumble and lunged toward his son. The two struggled for a bit... it seemed like his father was trying to bite him, a strange blood lust in his eyes. Trey tried not to hurt him, but eventually, he threw his father against the wall, his skull smacking the cold concrete with a sickening thud._

"_Are you okay?" Trey exclaimed, his voice in a panic. However, his father didn't seem to react in the slightest bit, shaking it off like it was nothing, charging his son once more._

_A single tear squeezed out of Trey's eye._

"_Papa, please stop"_

_His father merely snarled, moving toward his son. Trey raised the hatchet._

"_Papa..."_


	2. Town Square

Trey woke up in a cold sweat, sitting up with a scream. He looked around the room he was staying in, and collapsed back in the bed, realizing that he was just dreaming. It had been one year since that night, one year since the outbreak, and he'd relived that nightmare damn near every night. After taking a moment to catch his breath and let his heart rate return to normal, he slowly got out of bed and walked to the bathroom.

He went through his usual morning routine- Piss, brush teeth (Well, scrub them with his toothbrush. He'd run out of tooth paste a month ago), wash face, look at himself in the mirror. His midnight black hair drooped down to his shoulders, his face was covered in a thick 5 o'clock shadow (He really did need to shave again) and he had heavy bags under his emerald green eyes. He also took a look at his nude body. Once upon a time he was a little on the chubby side, but it didn't look like he had an ounce of fat on his body now, a thin layer of hair covered his chest and stomach and his muscles were much more defined than they were before (Not saying much, since his arms were once scrawny as beanpoles, mind you)

After looking himself over, he went back into the bedroom and got dressed, going over what needed to be done today. Not needing to worry about anyone seeing him, he pulled on a pair of beat up black jogging shoes, battered blue jeans with a utility belt and a black sweatshirt with a white tank top underneath (It was the middle of Autumn, so he wasn't sure if it would be warm or cold). Once dressed, he wandered over to the window and looked out. The sun was just beginning to rise, meaning he would need to head out soon. He looked at a large stone positioned in his backyard and exhaled deeply. At least the grass had started to grow over his father's grave.

After eating a can of beans, grabbing an empty gas can and filling his canteen with water (He'd need to visit the well again soon), he stepped outside began to walk toward the town.

"Gas. Food. Water. Razor." He mumbled to himself, making a mental checklist of what he needed to grab. Thankfully over the past year he'd taken out all of the infected townspeople (Not one of them survived...), so the only worry he had was straggler from the woods, which he'd be able to take out no problem with the hatchet on his belt. He repeated the four words over and over, his body going on autopilot as he walked into the town square. Over the winter he'd raided most of the houses and stores and moved everything he would ever need into the old schoolhouse, which he kept boarded up (Save for an entrance through the roof, which he could get to no problem. He'd always been good at climbing up trees, and there was a tree ever-so-conveniently right next to the schoolhouse).

After 30 minutes or so, he was in the towns square. It was always strange being there... it used to be so full of life, with the village wives walking around and gossiping and the children running and playing and now it was just empty. Well kept shop windows were shattered, mule carts lie abandoned and cars began to rust. He tried not to think about it too much, but Trey couldn't help but feel sad whenever he walked through.

His routine began, though. He first made his way to one of the twelve large gas containers, flipped a switch and began to fill his can with enough gasoline to fuel his truck for a trip or two (He tried not to use the truck as often because he knew that at least seven of the containers were empty and he wasn't sure how much gas the other five had in them, but he needed to refill the well so he needed the truck). One the can was full, he walked home, daydreaming about this and that, thinking that maybe he would stop by the "library" (The basement of the schoolhouse) and pick up a book or two to pass the time. Once he got home, he filled the truck up and drove to the schoolhouse, which took maybe 7 minutes. However, once he'd gotten there, he noticed that someone (or something) had ripped the boards off one of the windows.

"Goddamn raiders..."

Trey opened up the glove box and pulled out a revolver. He flipped the chamber open to see that it was full, which made Trey smile a bit. He'd had to deal with raiders a few times since the outbreak, but they were usually much louder. Hopefully they hadn't emptied the place and left yet. Trey got out of his truck and quietly crept over to the window. He peeked inside but saw nothing out of the ordinary, no signs of anyone other than the missing boards. Grabbing the windowsill, he pulled himself into the schoolhouse and crept through the halls. It didn't look like any of the doors were opened, or really that anything was tampered with, but he also knew that most of the goods he'd stored were in the gymnasium.

Breathing only shallow breaths and stepping only small, silent steps, he advanced to the gymnasium and heard a quiet snoring. Someone was, in fact, in the gymnasium, and they clearly weren't that smart if they stuck around. He kept close to the wall as he moved (Trey wished that he'd brought his flashlight, since the boarded up windows only let in a few measly beams of light), moving closer and closer to the noise.

Eventually, he made out a figure. Whoever it was definitely wasn't that big, and they were definitely still sleeping, slumped up in a corner, sitting up with their head down. Trey moved to the sleeping figure and crouched down, his fingers wrapped tightly around the gun. After taking a deep breath, Trey cocked the trigger back and pressed it up against the intruder's head. The intruder woke up with a gasp.

"Who the fuck are you?" Trey said menacingly, yet quietly (He still didn't know if they were alone"

"No no, please don't shoot!"

xoxoxoxoxo

I'm going to try and keep the author notes to a minimum here. Now, some of you who have played the game might notice that I'm being kind of liberal about whats in the town, so I'm making it known now that I will be taking a few liberties with the setting and what's in it. Lazy as it might be of me, this is entirely out of plot convenience. Despite that, I'm hoping that you are enjoying the story. I've had god-knows-how-many ideas in my head for zombie stories, so it's kind of refreshing to be getting those to paper. Anyways, feel free to leave me a review or something like that to let me know what you think so far.

Peace, Love,

A3TR


	3. Anna

The voice Trey heard was definitely feminine, and it was definitely scared.

"Please, god, don't shoot me!" The voice said again. It sounded like the girl was on the verge of a panic attack.

"Are you alone?"

"Yes! It's just me! I haven't seen anyone in months and oh my god please just don't kill me."

Trey thought about lowering the gun, but hesitated. "Are you armed?"

"I have a small knife in my backpack, but nothing on me!"

He thought for a moment. "I'm going to put the gun down, but if you try anything I swear to fucking god I will paint the walls with your brains. Is that clear?"

"I'm not going to try anything! Please, just don't kill me, please..."

Trey lowered the gun and went back to a standing position. There was a moment of silence as the girl regained her composure, no longer fearing for her life (Well, at least she didn't have a gun to her head anymore) Trey finally broke the silence.

"What are you doing here?"

"I got lost in the woods. This schoolhouse was the first building I've seen in weeks..."

"Speakings of, how the hell did you pull the boards down if all you have is a knife?"

"I just tugged on them. They were pretty loose."

Trey made a mental note to check the boards, then focused back on the girl.

"Did you take anything?"

"I... I had a soda and a can of beef and potato stew. I swear, that's it."

He let out a sigh, and it was silent for another moment.

"I'm going to grab a lantern. If you move even an inch while I'm gone, you're as good as dead. Understand?"

"Y... yes."

The girl still sounded panicked. Trey wandered back out to the hall. 101... 102... room 103. He opened the door and rummaged around before finding an old kerosine lantern and a box of matches, which he used to light the lantern. He then walked back into the gymnasium, walked back to the girl and set the lantern down. It was dim so he couldn't really make her out, but from what he could see, she couldn't be any more than 5'3 and she looked pretty good looking. Trey sat down a few feet away from the girl, the gun sitting in his lap.

"What's your name?" Trey said. His voice was a little softer, but he made sure that it didn't express any trust.

"Anna." The girl had calmed down quite a bit since he walked away (Though that was probably because he wasn't clutching the gun anymore)

"Anna... so you just happened across this school?"

"Yes! I told you, I was lost in the woods for a few weeks and I found this schoolhouse. I'm happy I did, too. I could hear a group of infested in the woods not too far from here and I'm sure they would have got me if I didn't find the..."

"Wait, how many infested?"

"I dunno... maybe four or five?"

"And you responded by exposing the schoolhouse?"

"What else was I supposed to do, let them have their way with me?" She seemed a mix of upset and scared as she said this. Trey took a moment to think, staring up at the ceiling, then looked back at her.

"Well, if they got in I'm sure that you'd be in quite a different state, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"You got anywhere to go?"

Even with the lights as dim as they are, Trey could still see Anna's eyes rolling. "The world is overrun with infested. Do you _think_ I have anywhere to go?" She said in a very sarcastic tone. Trey let out a slight chuckle.

"Guess you got a point there." He grabbed his gun and stood up. She let out a bit of a gasp.

"Relax, I'm not doing anything other than holding it." Trey put the revolver in his pocket to show that he wasn't fixing to harm her. He bent over, picked up the lantern, and gestured for her to get up, which she did.

"Alright, Anna, here's what I'm thinking." He began walking around the gymnasium, looking through the stacks of canned food that he had amassed. "You ain't got nowhere to go and I'm not too sure what I want to do with you yet. However, I'm not about to leave you alone here to raid my supplies. I got a house maybe a 10 minute drive, half hour walk from here, and I got a spare room I could let you stay in."

"Really?" She said, a sense of hope in her voice.

"However," Trey said sternly, "there's a few ground rules. One, you don't go rummaging through nothing without my knowing. Two, you don't try to knick nothing from under my nose. Three, until I figure out what I'm going to do with you, you're going to help me with the chores around the house. Is that understood."

There was a moment of silence before she mumbled to herself" What other options do I got?" She looked back at Trey. "I guess that's fair."

"Good. Now, you said you had a backpack?"

"Yes... um, what's your name?"

"Trey. Grab your backpack and help me grab a few things. I hope you're good at lifting shit."


	4. Bright Pink Door

"Alright, that's the last one." Trey leaned up against the wall of the basement, letting himself breathe for a moment. He and Anna had just moved the better part of 30 containers of water, plus enough food and fuel for the week, into the basement, and he was kind of tired. He looked over and saw that Anna was absolutely winded.

"You doing alright?" he asked

"Yeah..." she panted "...just not... used to... that much... physical... work"

He let out a quiet chuckle. "Well, get used to it. If you'd like, there's a container of water in the bathroom. It looks like it's been a while since you washed up."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Anna looked more than a little offended. Trey grinned a little bit.

"You're covered in dirt, your hair is matted and your clothes are filthy. I'm not trying to insult you, I'm just saying it looks like it's been a while since you've washed up." Anna stormed up the stairs in a huff, making a B-line for the bathroom. He might have worded it in a not-so-nice way, but Trey wasn't wrong- it had been about a year since she'd had a bath.

"Soap, shampoo and conditioner are in the medicine cabinet." Trey shouted up the steps "If you'd like, there's also a razor and some shaving cream by the sink."

She didn't respond. Trey grinned a bit before gathering water and several cans of food for dinner. It'd been a very long time since he'd made dinner for two, so he also grabbed a few tins which contained spices and headed up to the kitchen to prepare a meal. It wasn't too much- Green beans, some canned beef, potatoes- but it was enough to make a decent stew out of. Besides, a bit of salt and garlic powder made everything at least bearable to eat, right?

About 20 minutes passed and the stew was almost done when Trey heard Anna ask for a set of clothes. Trey let out a sigh before walking across the house to a bright pink door. He hadn't stepped foot in his sisters room since a few months before the outbreak. He opened the door and saw that, despite a bit of dust, the room was almost exactly how he remembered it. Pinks and purples as far as the eye could see, a few posters for music groups that Trey never really cared for, a teddy bear sat on the bed...

xoxoxoxoxoxo

"_Ooh, look at that teddy!"_

_Trey looked over, and sure enough there was a giant teddy bear hanging up from a hook. Trey pulled a dollar out and walked up to the man running the stand._

"_I'd like to play, please!"_

"_Sure thing, kid." The carnie pulled out three brightly colored rings. "Now, the rules are simple enough. You get three rings, and you have to try and throw them on those milk bottles. You make two, you get a piece of candy. You get all three, you'll get a big prize of your choice."_

_Trey closed one eye shot and stuck his tongue out a little bit and threw the first ring, which landed around the bottle. He looked over at his sister Sarah, who was looking on with a wide-eyed excitement that only an 8 year old could have. Trey focused back on the bottles and threw the second one perfectly around the bottle. Trey inhaled deeply and tossed the third ring, which again landed perfectly. Sarah jumped up and let out a yelp of excitement, and Trey let out a big, goofy 11-year-old grin._

"_Not bad, kiddo! You won!"_

"_You wanted the teddy bear, right Sarah?"_

xoxoxoxoxoxo

That was 10 years ago. Truth be told, Trey had no idea what became of his little sister. He searched for a month after the outbreak, but didn't find a corpse, an infected... nothing, and looking at the teddy bear brought back all the feelings of desperation that he felt whilst looking for her.

"Can't believe she hung on to that..."

"Hey, could you hurry up?" Anna shouted from the bathroom "I'd like to get out before I start to prune up."

Trey shook his head before looking through the dresser. From what he could see, his sister and Anna were roughly the same size, so he grabbed a red t-shirt, a pair of blue jeans and a set of underwear and took it to Anna ("Just put it in the sink," she said, "and no trying to get a peek at me!")

Five minutes later, Trey was scooping the stew into two bowls. He put one on the table and then grabbed two glasses, which he filled with water. Anna came out just as Trey set the glasses down. He hadn't really focused on her looks until now, and Trey realized that she was a very beautiful girl. Brunette hair that hung past her shoulders, a narrow face and the brightest blue eyes that Trey had ever seen. She was short and slender, but curvy in all the right places. Trey shook his head and muttered something about dinner being done.

The two ate in silence, with Anna not knowing what to say and Trey not really caring to say much at all. Once dinner had just about finished, Anna attempted some small talk.

"So... what did you do before the outbreak?"

"Hunter." Trey said after gulping some water down. "Occasionally did some odd jobs around the village, but me and my family mostly kept to ourselves."

"How many family members did you have."

"Just me, my dad and a sister."

"What happened to your mother?"

Trey swallowed down some more water then looked down at the empty bowl of stew. "Left when I was about 11. Me and my sis went to a carnival and when we came back, she was gone. Never asked my dad what the hell happened."

"I'm sorry to hear that..." Trey glanced up and saw a twinge of sorrow in Anna's eyes. He just shrugged.

"Doesn't really matter. She left, life went on as it always had."

"What was your father like?"

"You really are a chatty little thing, aren't you?" Trey looked Anna directly in the eyes. She looked away, her cheeks starting to redden with embarrassment.

"Sorry... I just haven't talked to anybody in such a long time..."

"It's fine." Trey got up and collected the bowls, putting them in the sink and washing them off. "My father was a decent enough man." He explained. "Don't really remember a whole lot of what he was like before Ma went off. Basically, so long as you did what was expected of you, he was a good guy, but if you slacked off any he could become a real piece of work."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, this one time- And keep in mind I was maybe 13, so I wasn't making the best decisions at the time- he told me to go to one of the neighbors and paint their house. Can't remember the lady's name, but she was a sweet ol' thing whose husband just passed away. Well, me being 13, I decided that it was more important to run off with my friends and goof off. Old man kicked my ass for about two days after that."

"That's horrible!"

Trey shrugged again "I didn't do what I was told, and I sure as hell didn't do anything that stupid again afterward." Trey put the freshly-washed bowls on a drying rack, then glanced out the window. The sun was beginning to set.

"Alright." He turned around and looked directly into Anna's bright blue eyes. "It's starting to get dark, but I need to board up the window that you opened before I completely lose daylight."

"Won't it get dark before you finish?" She looked a little concerned, but he just shook his head.

"Shouldn't take too long. Besides, I got a flashlight just in case." He pointed over to the hallway. "You'll be staying in my sisters old room. Shouldn't be hard to miss, it's got a bright pink door." He opened up a drawer and pulled out a candle and a box of matches. "Got this here if you need it. You should probably get to bed soon-ish because I'm going to chop down wood as soon as the sun rises, and you'll be coming along to help. You got that?"

"Yeah, I got it." Trey went down to the basement and grabbed a toolbox, then ran back up and was about to walk out the front door when Anna spoke up again.

"Hey Trey..."

He spun around and looked at her. "Yeah?"

"I just wanted to say... well... thanks."

"It's nothing." He walked out the front door and hopped in his truck. He fired up the engine, and smiled a bit as he backed out of the driveway.

Xoxoxoxoxo

He pulled back in to the driveway an hour later. He'd gotten the windows almost completely boarded up, and he figured that the rest could wait until he headed into town next week. It was too risky not being able to see out there. He turned off the truck and walked inside, then started to walk toward his room. However, he stopped at the bright pink door and decided to peek inside. Anna was out cold, clinging on to the teddy bear. Trey let out a slight chuckle and smiled as he walked to his room. He wasn't looking to show it, but he was kind of happy to have another human to interact with.


End file.
